Presented at: GSEF2016 Montreal 

Organisation: World in Tohoku (Citizen Initiative)

Date: September 7, 2016

Presenter: Mio Yamamoto (Co-Founder & Managing Director)

Summary: 

World in Tohoku (WIT) was established immediately following the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011. When the Earthquake severely hit Tohoku prefecture, professionals in the field of social innovation gathered to share their experiences and acted upon their shared commitment towards creating change-making communities and scaling impact. The societal issues around Tohoku post-disaster is currently gaining a lot of attention from both within Japan and across the world. The efforts of building capacity of social entrepreneurs who are seeking to have an impact on their region and beyond can enhance the resilience of the community. Through the session, WIT will demonstrate how social economy can be the key to increasing the positive impacts and possibility of replicating or scaling in other disaster-stricken regions in the world in the context of rapid societal changes notably issues of nuclear radiation, decreasing birth rate and ageing population.